The bodies of the survivors
Photos from the period after World War I reveal contrasting body images. While the war-affected suffer from their injuries, the healthy celebrate their muscular strength. The cityscape of the Weimar Republic is dominated by damaged men with and without a prosthesis. In battle they have lost arm, leg or their eyesight, often also their will to live. At the same time, the media celebrate steeled bodies like deities. In magazines and posters, sporty, tanned and young people can be seen. This body cult after 1918 is an attempt to cover up and overcome the horrors of war.